All the Speed and Thrills of the Temple Run App in a Multi-Player Board Game! You've got the Golden Idol in hand -- but the Evil Demon Monkey is on your tail! Roll the dice and race against the clock to move ahead. Outrun the demon monkey and outlast the other players to win! - From the Publisher
Thebes is a game of competitive archeology. Players are archaeologists who must travel around Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East to acquire knowledge about five ancient civilizations -- the Greeks, the Cretans, the Egyptians, the Palestinians, and the Mesopotamians -- and then must use this knowledge to excavate historical sites in the areas of these civilizations. Through the course of the game, expositions are revealed, and an archaeologist who has treasures from the requisite civilizations may claim the prize (this is a change from the first edition's handling of exhibitions). The archaeologist who learns the most about the civilizations, claims the greatest-valued artifacts, and collects the most exhibitions will win out over his or her colleagues.
The key element to the game is that it is played out over a period of two (or three) years, and each action a player performs takes a certain amount of time -- traveling is a week between cities, gathering knowledge takes time for the level of the knowledge, and actually digging at a cultural site takes time to yield a certain number of artifact tiles. The game uses a novel mechanism to keep track of this. There is a track of 52 spaces around the outside of the board. Each time a player moves and takes an action, he or she moves their player token forward in time. Players take turns based on being the one who is furthest back in "time". So, a player can go to an excavation site and spend 10 weeks digging for artifacts, but that will also mean that the other players will likely be taking several actions in the interim while that player waits for the "time" to catch up.
In addition, the artifact tiles for each civilization are drawn from a bag that also contains dirt. When a player excavates a site, that player pulls tiles from the bag, but some may only be worthless dirt instead of valuable treasure. That dirt is then returned to the bag, making the first draw more likely to provide useful tiles.
This is the new entry for the Queen printing of Jenseits von Theben. As the new game changes several mechanisms of the original, and is available in a much wider release, the two games should be regarded as separate entities.
Re-implements:
Jenseits von Theben
In the Alexandre Dumas novel The Count of Monte Cristo, the protagonist, Edmond Dantès, is imprisoned in the Chateau d'If for fourteen years, during which time he learns about a fortune hidden on the island of Monte Cristo. Eventually he escapes, boards a smuggling ship, then makes his way to the island, where he manages to recover the fortune.
But did he find all of value on the island? That's not what designers Arnaud Urbon and Charles Chevallier propose in Le Secret de Monte Cristo, coming from Filosofia in French, with eggertspiele and Z-Man Games releasing versions in German and English.
The players are smugglers who learned of the treasure from Dantès while traveling together, and now each of them has decided to search the island for any treasure that might remain. Each round players receive cards that show what type of treasure (gems) might be found in the castle, with the active player that round placing three smugglers in the castle and all other players placing one.
Once new treaure has been distributed in the castle rooms, players then take actions based on the order of the marbles showing in the game's "action slide" – this being a tilted rack with four slots in it, with a different action associated with each slot. The player whose marble is at the bottom of slot one takes that action, then places the marble at the top of any other slot; then the player at the bottom of slot two takes that action; and so forth.
Players can seize treasure from rooms if they outnumber the other smugglers present and they have the right sacks on hand for storing the treasure.
Dragon Strike has similar game play to Milton Bradley's HeroQuest.
One player acts as the "Dragon Master" (i.e., the DM) and controls the placement, movement, and action of the villains. The rest of the players control one of five different hero types (Warrior, Wizard, Thief, Elf, or Dwarf) and attempt to complete various adventure goals. Dragon Strike takes the HeroQuest game play and goes a step further in a few directions:
1) The Wizard and Elf have more spells at their disposal and a greater variety to choose from,
2) Dragon Strike comes with 4 different game boards (vs. HeroQuest's single board), one of which is outdoors,
3) a slightly more advanced combat system which uses different polyhedral dice (instead of all six-siders) and has concepts like flying creatures which can only be hit with spells and missile weapons, and
4) a (cheezy) 30 minute VHS video tape which introduces players to the game and sets the "mood" for playing.
Note: This game is available by request only and requires having a membership to play.
See game associate for details.
Your small island is peaceful and prosperous – so prosperous that your tribe has grown beyond its ability to sustain you! Fortunately, being a peaceful people you have chosen not to fight over what little there is. Instead, you set out in your seagoing Wa’a (canoe) to fish and gather crops from the many nearby islands. The fertility goddess Haumea has blessed these islands, and they are rich with fruits, vegetables, and spices. It is a matter of pride to collect the finest harvest for the village. Can you win the race against time and the sea, and prove that you are the best gatherer of all?
In Tahiti the goal is to collect crops (coconuts, taro, bananas, spice) and fish from the surrounding islands to score points with bonuses for making full sets and acquiring the most of their family favorites which are hidden from the other players.
The game starts off with just your home island and its immediate neighboring islands. Players build up the archipelago of fertile islands with the guidance of Haumea for the first part of the game until all islands are in play. Players seed the islands each turn giving them some control over where crops replenish. Once the archipelago is formed, the late season is triggered when crops start becoming scarce, with players occasionally stopping an island from producing altogether. Although the late season may not be as good for crops, fishing becomes easier with bonuses given to the waters around some of the islands.
During all this the players travel by Wa’a from island to island using action points to collect the crops they want or can get to before the others take them. As the Wa’a fills, it becomes slower limiting the number of actions they have. There are also treacherous reefs around the islands that require you go around them or risk losing some of the crops aboard your Wa’a. At the end of the year, the one who most efficiently gathers food for their family wins.